Fears thousands of vulnerable households face drop in welfare support this winter

Funding for the Household Support Fund (HSF) will expire at the end of September with no plans in place to replace the scheme, which is designed to provide low-income households with essential cost of living support.

Now, the Local Government Association is warning a failure to extend the funding could lead to the loss of a “vital safety net” for residents across the country, ahead of an expected increase in requests for help during the winter months.

According to council figures at least 25,000 households have been directly helped by the scheme in Shropshire, with both unitary authorities in the county receiving funding to provide welfare support through HSF.

Both councils have used the funding to pay for free holiday meals for school children, in addition to an application based support scheme for residents experiencing exceptional financial hardships.

Telford and Wrekin Council said it was working on the assumption that support for the fund would end in September, but added that it would continue to provide support for residents through alternative schemes.

“Telford & Wrekin Council has provided support to over 10,000 households in the last twelve months, not just with the assistance of the Household Support Fund,” said Councillor Kelly Middleton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Healthier, Safer and Stronger Communities and Partnerships.

“We are committed to continuing to fund our Emergency Welfare Assistance scheme and our Council Tax Hardship scheme and to engaging positively with Government about the future of the Household Support Fund as well as any other initiatives which will allow us to provide much needed support to local residents."

Shropshire Council said it was continuing to issue HSF funding to residents in the meantime, but that it was unclear whether the scheme will be extended at this stage.

In May this year, they said they had worked with voluntary and community organisations to provide cost-of-living support to 7,027 households with children, 3, 893 households with pensioners, and 846 households with a person with a disability.

In the latest round of funding Shropshire Council was awarded an extra £2.1million to extend the scheme from April until September, while Telford and Wrekin Council also received £1.5m to cover the same period.

The LGA is calling for longer-term funding settlements for local authorities to help refocus efforts on preventing people from falling into hardship and poverty as part of a successor scheme next year.

“The Household Support Fund is a vital safety net for vulnerable residents struggling with the cost of living, which councils are using to target help to those most in need, but is currently due to run out in a matter of weeks,” said Councillor Pete Marland, Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Resources Board.

“We are approaching another cliff-edge before the current fund runs out and we urge the Government to urgently extend this for at least another six months, to help support those most affected through the winter when energy bills in particular are expected to be higher.

“Ultimately, councils want to see a shift away from short term, crisis support so they can instead invest in preventative services which improve people’s financial resilience and life chances. Crucially this must be underpinned by a sufficiently-resourced national welfare system.”